Free(ing) France in Colonial Brazzaville

This monograph examines Brazzaville’s role in remaking the Free France movement after the fall of France in 1940. Suddenly, Brazzaville, a marginal city in the French empire prior to the fall of France, became the capital of Afrique Française Libre.

This book analyzes the international imagining of AFL through the simultaneous constructions of virtual and physical Brazzavilles. It also examines how French efforts to reconstruct the city heavily influenced many aspects of daily life within the capital, ranging from food shortages, displacement, the increased policing of African bodies, and the development of multiple avenues of resistance among Africans. Sanchez dramatically re-centers the Second World War by following sources that emphasize the profound value of Brazzaville following the fall of France. Brazzaville is integral to understanding not only France’s progression in the war, but also the repercussions of decades of colonial neglect and forcing Africans to participate in a war effort that emphasized the hypocrisy of colonial rule. Furthermore, the book draws attention to a history of the Second World War in Africa that pushes beyond military recruitment or forced labor and considers the lived experiences of a population that felt the repercussions of this global conflict in their daily lives

Offering a highly original and scholarly contribution to the literature, this book is an important read for uper level students and scholars of colonial history, Francophone Africa and the Second World War.